Vol. 502 No. 1
43 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the progress, if any, made on the recommendations in the task force report dated April 1997 entitled Violence Against Women; the success, if any, of the national steering committee in confronting this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6847/99]
The first report of the national steering committee on violence against women was published on Sunday, 7 March 1999 and it charts the progress made on the implementation of the recommend ations of the task force on violence against women.
Along with the establishment of the national steering committee, which was a priority recommendation of the task force, eight regional committees have been established and their remit is to provide a multi-disciplinary, multi-agency and cohesive response to women experiencing violence.
The national steering committee also launched an awareness campaign which will be developed over the coming year which aims to highlight a number of issues. The focus of the campaign will be to support victims by reiterating that they should no longer suffer in silence and to inform the perpetrators that violence is a crime and it must stop. The campaign will also aim to create a wider public debate on the issue which it is hoped will encourage society generally to play a greater role in discouraging this form of violence.
There are other positive developments such as the development of a computerised bed space bureau which will identify for a victim the available space within refuges. The national steering committee is also examining the introduction of a single contact helpline number for women in crisis. The aim of the helpline is to facilitate easier access to services.
As the Deputy may be aware, following on from the publication of the discussion paper on the law and sexual offences, where the Department invited submissions from interested parties, the Minister recently received approval from Government to publish a Bill which will allow for separate legal representation for rape victims, in limited circumstances and to provide for a register of sex offenders.
In dealing with the perpetrators of violence against women, funding has been made available for a community based pilot project being undertaken by the Cork Domestic Violence Project and the Probation and Welfare Service. Funding is also being provided for a pilot project men's helpline which aims to reach out to men who may be abusive or violent within a relationship.
The Deputy will appreciate it is difficult to cover all the progress which has been made. Copies of the report are being circulated in the House and in its appendices, the Deputy will find the recommendations from the taskforce and the replies the national steering committee received from the various Government Departments as regards progress in the first year of the steering committee.
I thank the Minister for her reply. However, I remind her that the report of the task force on violence against women has been on her desk for two years. She has been in a position to do something about it for two years; yet, over that time 50 women have been murdered, there have been 750 reported cases of rape and sexual assault, 1,000 calls to Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and 15,000 calls nationwide, an increase of 6,000 during the Minister's two years in office. While crime statistics are decreasing, those for rape and sexual assault are increasing. Does the Minister agree that nothing practical has been done to reduce the risk of violence and to protect women in these appalling circumstances?
For example, one of the first recommendations made in the report, on page 12—
We cannot have quotations during Question Time.
I know it off by heart.
I would like the Deputy to ask a question. I remind the House that we have spent nearly 40 minutes on Priority Questions, which are allocated 20 minutes in Standing Orders.
We were slow on the first one.
In fairness to the Deputies in the House who have later questions, we want to move on.
Deputy Howlin was slow on the pick-up.
It is the Minister's style.
I ask the Deputy to confine herself to asking the Minister a question to elicit information.
I was referring to the lack of practical implementation of the recommendations and I wish to remind the Minister that on page 12 of the report, one of the first recommendations was the nationwide freephone service for women in fear of, or those who suffer from, domestic violence. Now, some two years later, there are only plans—
I ask the Deputy to obey the Chair. This is Question Time and is an opportunity for Members to elicit information from the Minister.
That is a tall order.
It is not appropriate to make Second Stage speeches at Question Time. We are anxious to move on. Will the Deputy confine herself to asking the Minister a question?
Why has it taken two years to get to the planning stage of the freephone helpline? It is fundamental for women suffering domestic violence that they have someone to reach out for. I find it hard to accept that it has taken two years and the establishment of a steering committee to establish a fundamental nationwide freephone service which would be of tremendous help to women suffering domestic violence.
I accept that the principle of what the Deputy said is correct. There is a number of helplines around the country, all of which would have to be co-ordinated. For example, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has the 1800-778888 line and Women's Aid has the 1800-341900 line, which receive thousands of calls. The operators of the various helplines do not want the excellent service provided by them interfered with, whether they are in Limerick, Galway or other areas. However, this year's allocation of £100,000 will help to establish a single phone number of which women would be aware. If a woman leaves her home in the middle of the night without money and without access to a phone book, she can dial a phone number and the operator will put her through to Women's Aid or the rape crisis centre in whatever area she is in. The allocation of £100,000 will be spent on co-ordinating and identifying a directional phone line.
The report was published in April 1997 and we entered Government that summer. By December 1997 we had established the national steering committee, which was the priority of the report. Within six months, by May 1998, we established a regional committee in each of the eight health boards. That is important because gardaí, health boards and GPs were making their contribution and the voluntary sector was providing a fantastic service, through refuges, rape crisis centres etc. However, not all of these were communicating. The regional committees have enabled the co-ordination of services in each health board area. This effective co-ordination has been a huge improvement in the first year of the work of the national steering committee. Another tangible result is the record £5 million being provided this year for services for victims, which is an additional expenditure of £1 million. A great deal is happening after the first year of the national steering committee.
As regards legal representation for rape victims, when will the legislation be published? Proposals have been put forward by the network of rape crisis centres in relation to the broader issue of separate legal representation. The legislation provides that sexual history be taken into account. The rape crisis centres have proposed measures that would be compliant with the Constitution in relation to how a rape victim could be kept informed of the progress of the case by one person. Has consideration been given to this proposal, which is a long standing concern of the rape crisis centres? What is the Minister of State's response?
Regarding the proposals, the drafting of the Government legislation has commenced, and that will be ready as soon as possible, hopefully this year. Many issues in this area were raised following the discussion paper on the law on sexual offences published by my Department last May in which we sought submissions. Many were received and the original closing date of the end of August was extended to the end of December. We are still receiving submissions and ideas on how barriers can be removed to improve the law in this area. The Department is keeping this constantly under review as the submissions come in, and the Minister has taken two very positive steps in the two recent announcements about legislation currently being drafted.
While acknowledging what the Minister of State has done in the past two years, I stated in my question that in spite of all those efforts the number of cases is increasing. Does the Minister of State share my concern about this? What proposals does she have for stemming the number of violent crimes against women? That is the crucial issue.
Of course we are concerned by any increase in crime. While crime figures are going down, it is a huge concern to us to have an increase in this area. All of us involved in this sector would recognise that there is a historical increase in the number of cases reported to the Garda, as in the past people did not necessarily report the crimes but went to the rape crisis centre instead. That is a historical aspect to the increase, but there is no doubt that we are concerned.
What are we doing about it? The awareness campaign is creating greater awareness among women victims that if they are living with the perpetrator of domestic violence, there are barring orders, safety orders and updated domestic violence legislation provisions to support them. Additional funding has been put into the various centres to provide court accompaniment, support, counselling and information for these victims. We are trying to create awareness among people that there is help available to them and that they should come forward.
The biggest difficulty is that the gardaí go to a house at 3 a.m., and the woman there says she has been experiencing the same problem for 15 years and that this is the last time as she is going to do something about it. However, somewhere between then and the court date she does not go ahead with the case. We are carrying out extensive research into that attrition rate – which the first report will show – as well as domestic violence and sexual assault. We are providing advice and support as well as creating awareness among victims, perpetrators and society. Society must support victims and can no longer say that this is a family matter that people cannot get involved in; it is happening on all our streets and these victims must be supported by society. They cannot be victimised doubly, as has happened in the past.
Does the Minister of State accept that there is a sex offender treatment clinic only in Arbour Hill, which caters for a maximum of ten inmates only? If every eligible prisoner sought treatment it would take 25 years to provide it. Does the Minister of State agree that that is a deplorable state of affairs? What does she intend to do about it?
There is another question tabled on this matter which we may reach.
The Minister of State raised the issue of the treatment of sexual offenders in her reply, mentioning a recommendation on this matter in the report. Does she accept that ten treatment places is totally inadequate and a deplorable state of affairs? What will be done about it? It would take 25 years for the prisoners to be treated if they wanted to be treated tomorrow.
There are plans in the Department to extend this treatment to the Curragh and to provide an additional ten places. A key part of offender treatment is that they must come forward themselves. I often draw the parallel with alcoholism. They must be committed to the programme and be willing to participate in a genuine way.
Does the Minister of State not accept that 20 places will still be inadequate?
We do not want to get into the substance of another question.
I do not want to get into another question, but we are addressing this question, and ten additional places are being provided in the Curragh.
That is totally inadequate.
This matter is under constant review.
